Recording mechanism.



l. F. OC'ONNOR.

RECORDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION f|LED -1AN.31. 9,16i

l I I Q l I "TI u Il I Patented May 7,1918.. 4 SHEETS-SHEET I W1 MN .w WV IIIHIL` ww) N N .RN Nm, III I A O m QN mw I /Nw www IA. QH, wm NWN .Q

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BY LJ] ATTORNEY M3 l :i

S Q l I .III I II )mOn WITNESS 1. F. o'co'NNoR.

RECORDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3l I9I6.

4 SHEETS- SHEET 2.

' TTORNE I" J. F. OCGNNOR.

RECORDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.3I. 191s.

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@ATTORNEY I. F. O'coNNoII.

RECORDING MECHANISNI.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. zI. IsIs.

1,265,489. V l Patented May 7,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

T @A TTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JoHN r. o'coNNon, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNon To WILLIAM H. MINEB, or

. cHnzY, NEW lBronx.

Application filed January 31, 1916. Serial No. 75,320.

To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it known thatI, JOHN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new' and useful Improvement inl Recording Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear,

concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements 1n 'recording mechanisms.

An object of the invention is; to provide a mechanism for recording sudden accelerations and decelerations in the movements of vehicles and, more particularly, railroad cars.

Another object of the invention is; to provide a mechanism of the character 'above indicated which will also produce a continuous record of the accelerations and decelerations and simultaneously indicate the.in

showing the exact service to which the draft.

gears are subjected in order to determine the relative efficiency and wearing qualities of different types of gears. Heretofore there has been no reliable means for recording either the number of shocks transmitted to the gear and from the latter to the car during a certain run or period of time nor the intensity of shocks, due to increasing speeds or decreasing the same in starting a train or stopping the same or in varying the speed while runnin It has therefore been ne'cessary to mere y estimate the number of acf tions of the gears and practically no-means whatsoever have been available to estimate the average intensity of the shocks, and from which the working performance or endurance of the gears could be estimated.

My invention contemplates means by which the above indicated desired data may be obtained.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a mechanism embodyin my improvements. Fig. 2 is a side .elevatlon of the structure specification of Letters raten.

Patented May 7, 191s.

illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal, sectlonal view taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal, central, vertical, sectional view taken substantially on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical, transverse, sectional views taken substantially on the lines 5 5 and 6.-.6, respectively, of Fig. 2. `Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating the means employed for stopping and releasing the spring motor. And Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a record made with my improvements.

As shown, the improved recording mechanlsm comprises a rectangular bed or base plate A; 'a yieldingly controlled heavy block or member B, which is movable relatively4 to the member A, as hereinafter described; a uniformly movable record sheet C operated by a spring motor fixed with rereference D, the latter being movable 1`n1 unison with the slidable block B.' The bed y or base plate A is provided with a central, longitudinally extending recess 10 within which is 4adapted to reciprocate back and forth the depending portion of the preferably solid heavy block B, the latter being supported on a plurality of rollers 11-11 at the sides thereof, said rollers running in grooves or tracks .12-12 mounted on the base plate A. The heavy block B is provided with a centrally located recess 13 on its upper face and within whichis mounted a spring 14, the latter being provided at its ends with spring followers 15-15 shaped on their outer faces to seat properly incorresponding grooves 16, at each end. The bed plate vA is provided with upstanding brackets 17 in each of which is adjustably mounted a threaded rod 18 as by means of the set nuts 19-19, see Fig. 4. The rods 18-18 extend inwardly toward the center of the mechanism and pass through suitable perforations 20-20 in the member B, said rods 18 attheir inner,ends being tapered as indip cated at 21 and fitting in correspondingly .shaped recesses in the spring followers ment it is resisted by the sprmg 14. For

instance, if the member B moves to the left as the apparatus is viewed in Fig. 4, the left hand spring follower 15 remains st-ationary on the inner end of the left hand rod 18, and the right hand 'spring follower 15 is moved to the left by the member B, thus compressing the spring between it and the left hand follower 15. Similarly, the member B may move to the right in which case the right vhand follower 15 is held by its corresponding rod 18 and the left hand follower 15 moves to the right, thus compressing the spring. At each end, the block B is suitably recessed as indicated at 22, in order to accommodate the adjacent set nuts 19 upon extreme movement of the block. The `record sheet C unwinds from a roll 23 carried on a suitable rotatable cylinder 24, the sheet C passing over a horizontal table 25 and being wound around a second cylinder or drum 26. The drums or cylinders 24 and 26 are mounted on parallel shafts which are supported at their ends in two vertically arranged plates 27 and 28, each of said plates forming a bridge over the top of the block B and having depending legs 29-29 provided with feet 30'-30 at the bottom thereof and by which the same are rigidly secured to the base late A.. The table 25 is provided at eac end thereof with an undercut groove 31 to receive the edge of the sheet C as it travels thereover and properly guide the sheet. The two plates 27 and 28 are rigidly secured together by means of four longitudinally extending bolts 32 having spacer sleeves or bushings 33^mounted there on between the plates. Said bolts 32 are also extended beyond the plate 28 and through an additional end plate or partition 34, the latter being properly spaced from the plate 28 by bushings 35 mounted on said bolts. Tightening nuts 36 are provided on the ends of the bolts. The space between the plates 28 and 34 accommodates a spring motor indicated most clearly in Figs. 1 and 6 and which I have designated generally by the reference E. Said spring motor is or may be of any well known or desired type and is governed by an escapement wheel 37 and pawl 38, see Fig. 6, the pawl being mounted on a shaft 39, see Fig. 7, which carries a disk 40 rotatable between two spring arms 41 which may be separated by rotating the linger cam 42. As will be understood, when the spring fingers 41 engage the disk 40, the spring motor is locked but may be released by merely turning the cam 42 and spreading the spring fingers and releasing the disk 40. The spring motor is eared to the winding drum 26Jand, as will e understood, the sheet C is woundv thereon at a constant speed which may be regulated to any desired rate. I

The movable block B is provided at one end thereof with an upstanding forked Lacasse l bracket 43 to which is pivoted a lever 44, the latter at its inner end being provided with an adjustable tension, pencil holder 45, the pencil being so located that in normal position of the parts it will engage the record sheet C substantially at the middle thereof. By means of the adjustable rods 18-18 it is apparent that the normal position of the block B may be adjusted so as to properly locate the pencil on the sheet C. The pencil is held in engagement with the sheet by its own weight and that of the lever 44. The record sheet is preferably marked as indicated in Fig. 8, that is, with a central, longitudinal line a and parallel uniformly spaced lines b on` each side thereof, and transversely extending lines c which are also .uniformly spaced. rlhe sheet travels across the table 25 in the direction indicated by the arrow m in Fig. 8 and if movement of the member B relatively to the base plate A did not; occur the pencil would make a line coinciding with the center line a. However, upon displacement of the member B from its normal position it will make a transverse linel such as indicated at d--d of Fig. 8. The extent or intensity of the movements of the member B may be calculated from the lines b-b and the time at which they take place is determined by the spaces formed b v the vertical lines che, the latter being spaced to accord with five minute intervals.

The apparatus is used as follows. Whenever it is desired to make a record, the apparatus is placed in the car or other vehicle and so arranged that the tracks 12-12 on which the member B slides, extend parallel with the line ofmovement of the car. The apparatus is of suicient weight for all practical purposes to prevent slipping thereof relative to the car but of course it may be secured to the floor of the car by any suitable means if desired. Assuming the apparatus in place in the car and the clock work released so as to start the sheet C and the car to ybe moved toward the right as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4. As the car is given a sudden start, the bed plate, spring motor and record carrying sheet will, of course, move absolutely in unison therewith but the member B, which comprises a relatively heavy solid mass of metal, and being only under spring control, will tend to remain stationary. In other words, the member B will move towardl the left hand end of the base plate A as viewed in Fig. 4, and will thus produce a line d which is below the horizontal line a. The extent of this relative movement will depend upon the intensity of the starting shock or acceleration. After 'the member B hasbeen displaced from normalits maximum amount by the shock it -w1ll return to normal and move a somewhat lesser amount in the-opposite direction from normal, due to the recoil of the spring but will then return to normal.v` Now assuming Vthe apparatus in operation in a car which is moving at a comparatively high rate of speed and which'has the' brakes suddenly, ap lied thereto, it is apparent that the heavy bo y B will, under its own momentum, continue to move forwardly at the same rate of speed so that it will be displaced relatively to the base plate A. This will cause the pencil to first make a transverse line d above the horizontal linel a and its intensity will be indicated by the length of said line d,

Inasmuch as it 1s not fdesirable to record every minute shock or change inspeed of the moving Vehicle, the spring 14 1s made strong enough so that thev member B will not bemoved from normal position except by shocks heavier than 'a predetermined amount. The record shown in Fig. 8 is a samplel record taken in a street car and- Shows: .the number and intensity of starts and stops ofthe car in a period of less than I 10 As will be understood the lines larialways practically straight lines perpendicular to the center line a, since'the shocks .of either starting or stopping are practically instantaneous and the sheet C moves at a comparatively slow rate.

By placing my improved apparatus ina car, the same may be made to produce an automatic record of a car either for any period of time or for any certain run, and it willshow ythe number of times t e car has been suddenly accelerated orecelerated and the intensity of each movement or shook, whereby accuratev information may be obtained as to the actual conditions to which a draft gear or in fact any part of a car is subject.

I have herein shown and described speciically one embodiment of. my improvement but it is obvious that-the invention may be embodied inl various other structures and arrangements without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I con-l template all such changes and modications as come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

When the apparatus is not in use, the slid able block B may be held in 'Xed position by the vertically slidable pin 46 which passes through said block and is adapted to enter a suitable recess in the base casting A. When in use the pin 46 is elevated to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig.\2 and i. may be held in' such position by turning the 2. In a recordlng mechanlsm ofthe character described, the combination with a base plate, of a member slidably mounted on said base plate, said member -having a recess therein, a spring mounted within said recess, followers within said recess and co operating with said spring and said member, means for preventing movement of each of said followers in one direction, said means being adjustable, and automatically operated means for recording movements' of said member relatively to the b ase plate.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day of January, 1916.

f JOHN F. OCONNOR. 

